Morishita appointed President of Cal State East Bay

Leroy M. Morishita has been appointed permanent president of California State University, East Bay by the CSU Board of Trustees. The announcement was made on Jan. 25.

Morishita, who has served as the interim president of Cal State East Bay since July 1, becomes the fifth president in the institution’s 55-year history.

“I am deeply honored by this appointment and by the trustees’ confidence in my ability to lead such a diverse and distinguished institution as Cal State East Bay,” Morishita said. “I look forward to working closely with the extended university community, including our deeply caring and committed faculty, staff, alumni and friends to meet the rapidly changing needs of our students and the communities we serve.

“I am both excited and confident that together we can take Cal State East Bay to a new level of excellence, inclusion, and distinction.”

The new president came to Cal State East Bay following 29 years of senior administrative experience at San Francisco State University. He held a variety of increasingly responsible positions at SFSU, including executive vice president, and chief financial officer, vice president of physical planning and development and associate vice president of budget planning and resource management.

Morishita was also a California State University Administrative Fellow for the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cal State East Bay in 1987-1988, when the university was known as Cal State Hayward.

Recognized for his engaging leadership style, Morishita has begun building close working relationships with faculty, staff and students on campus during the seven months he led CSUEB as interim president.

“Since he arrived at East Bay, Leroy has demonstrated the leadership skills, administrative experience, and interaction with students, staff, faculty and the community that are critical to the role of president," said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "He has developed good relationships with key stakeholders and will continue to move the campus in the right direction."

A long time resident of the East Bay, Morishita brings extensive experience and a rich history as a successful leader in higher education planning, social policy and administration. Morishita’s appointment has been enthusiastically received by the university community.

“The Cal State East Bay Educational Foundation’s Board of Trustees is very pleased with the appointment of Leroy Morishita as permanent president,” said Rich Sherratt, chair of the foundation’s board, an East Bay businessman and a 1970 CSUEB graduate. “He has spent his entire career in higher education here in the Bay Area, lives in the East Bay and knows the university well. He will provide the leadership to continue to move the university forward.”

“Since he became interim president July 1, Dr. Morishita has been very visible on campus and has worked hard to keep an open communication with the student body, which has been complicated, considering the recent fee hikes,” said Chris Prado, president of CSUEB’s Associated Students Inc. “In Dr. Morishita, we have a president who is willing to collaborate with us to solve the difficult issues we have on our campus.”

“On behalf of the faculty, the executive committee of the academic senate unanimously approved his choice as university president,” said Michael Mahoney, senate chair. “We find him genuine, empathetic, really smart, and he listens to faculty – good qualities in a president. He’s exactly what the university needs right now.”

Raised on a grape and plum farm near Fresno, Morishita earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and his master’s degree in counseling from San Francisco State. He received his doctorate in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Morishita and his wife of 31 years, Barbara Hedani-Morishita, have two sons, Kyle and Derek.

California State University, East Bay is the San Francisco East Bay Area's high-access public university of choice. CSUEB serves the region with campuses in Hayward and Concord, a professional development center in Oakland, and an innovative online campus. With an enrollment of more than 14,000, the University offers a nationally recognized freshman year experience, award-winning curriculum, personalized instruction, and expert faculty. Students choose from among more than 100 professionally focused fields of study for which the University confers bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as an Ed.D. in education. Named a "Best in the West" college, as well as a Best Business School, by the influential Princeton Review, Cal State East Bay is among the region's foremost producers of teachers, business professionals and entrepreneurs, public administrators, health professionals, literary and performing artists, and science and math graduates.